music worth listening to

Main menu

Category Archives: Hipster classic

“It’ll be easy” I said to myself, “Just throw something together”, I lied. A good mix goes through several permutations. Getting everything to flow, so that it follows a thread, is always a challenge.

Who knew The Hudson Brothers were capable of producing such a slab of prime Pop/Rock, sounding as much like late-period Beatles as Badfinger? This was always the opener and really set the tone.(1974)
Legend was led by Mickey Jupp. The drummer left shortly after this (1971) to join T-REX, where he became known as Bill Legend. Fat bass-line reminds me of Macca.
“Lonely Blue Boy” (1958) is one of those songs everyone should hear. Vocal crick as art.
“The Power Of Your Love”(1969) from the sessions that produced “Suspicious Minds”. The last time Elvis was thouroughly engaged and at a creative peak in the studio. Long Live the King.
“In The Ghetto” was written by Mac Davis and recorded by Elvis in 1969. Given recent happenings in Chicago, it seems particularly relevent. This version by Nick Cave (1984) was when I realized he had a future after The Birthday Party.
“Sam” (1969) is a rare slice of midwestern psychedelia. Unreleased until 2013. It features the singing of Linda Bruner, who recorded 4 songs and vanished.
“Dripping With Looks” (1987) is a massive riff I never get tired of.
“Little Bit Of Magic” (1969) is very rare. Rosco originally recorded for SUN, in Memphis. His early singles featured a piano style which contributed to the formation SKA in Jamaica. Rosco left music during the ’60’s, moving to Queens to run a Dry Cleaners.
In 1969 he cut this single and released it on his own label. In the ’80’s he briefly returned to music, but stayed with his original SUN material. It’s too bad he didn’t make more music like this. What a voice! I imagine Bryan Ferry covering it back in the day.
It’s hard to believe “Electrify Me (1979) was considered punk rock when it came out. I hear a little RT in the guitar breaks.
If Nick Lowe and Rockpile never covered “Move It Baby” (1964) they should have.
The Shazam (2002) drop some classic Big Star style pop/rock. These guys deserve a bigger audience.
I love everything about “Pass You By” (1996).
“Wonderin'” (1983) is the only keeper on “Everbody’s Rockin”. It was written in 1970.
“WPLJ”-Frank genuinely loved Doo Wop and R&B. From “Burnt Weeny Sandwich”. I keep meaning to try it. Not the radio station.
Swamp Dogg, not Snoop Dogg. From “Total Destruction Of Your Mind” (1970).
“I Got It all Indeed” is the only song I know from “Theosophy”, Pete Molinari’s 2014 album.
“Life Is Good” is one of my favorite songs from my favorite Los Lobos album.
“Jimmy Was” is the title music from “Sling Blade” (1996).
I’ve always thought Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus’ voice sounded a little like Jerry Garcia’s, and the gorgeous pedal steel on this song really makes the case.
“Chicken” (2014) by Bill Patton brings things down to a gentle simmer while we get a little introspective.“I Remember Cissy’s Baby and the noise on the block,
And seventeen policemen that were in a state of shock,
She had it on the pavement she had it on the ground,
out popped the baby with the cops all around,”
-(1970) Jake And The Family Jewels.
Some fine storytelling. It just goes from there.
“Gone Like the Water”(1996) by Freedy Johnston is beautifully rendered. Perfect.
John & Beverly Martyn made two albums. “John The Baptist” is from “Stormbringer”(1970). His early work is some of my very favorite music, but soon he went MOR and made some records I’d rather not think about.
This demo of “Seeing” is far superior to the version which turned up on “Moby Grape ’69”. Featuring Skip Spence’s original vocal.

I didn’t buy a copy of the original double lp”Nuggets” as compiled by Lenny Kaye in 1972.
I never really sought this stuff out before getting Bowie’s “Pinups” in 1973. At first I preferred his versions because the sound was so much better. I thought the Kink’s original “Where Have All The Goodtimes Gone?” sounded weak and thin by comparison. On the other hand, Syd’s “See Emily Play” had something that Bowie’s did not.

Neither of those are here, however.

Only “Lies”, “Open My Eyes”, and “Farmer John” appeared on the original 1972 “Nuggets”.
The rest are from the much expanded Rhino versions, and a few from various other sources.
I included the best, and most obscure songs I know, while mostly avoiding the usual suspects.
While I’m sure some of this is familiar territory, I hope it’s the surprises that really get you.

Besides “Some Bright Stars For Queens College”, one of the songs I most wanted to find in my cassette archives was “Roadrunner (Once)”*. I’m not sure when exactly during my sophomore year at SDSU I finally found a Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers album, I’d been reading Robert Hilburn’s ravings in the LA Times and been on the lookout for awhile, but of course I bought the wrong one.
The right one was the John Cale produced debut, The Modern Lovers(1976), which sounds like the Stooges and the Velvet Underground in a blender, sort of, is a certified protopunk classic, and contains some of his best known songs, including “Pablo Picasso”.
The one I bought was the second one, Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers(1976), which featured “Rockin Shopping Center”, “Abominable Snowman in the Market”, “Hey There Little Insect”, “Hi Dear” etc, which sounded nothing like the The Velvets or Stooges, and to my Beatles- Zeppelin-Floyd trained ears, bore little resemblance to Rock N Roll. Remember, I didn’t know what to make of Syd Barrett either.
My first instinct was to hate it, and since I lived in a dorm, peer pressure was strong. With my neighbors blasting Boston and Aerosmith, I felt really embarrassed playing it.
About the same time I noticed the Eno lyric on “Third Uncle”- “We saw the Lovers, The Modern Lovers and they looked very good they looked as if they could”, or something like that.
My freshman year was spent at Cal State Fullerton, where during lunch hour, bands would often play outdoors in the “quad” in front of “the Commons”.
I came to realize later that The Modern Lovers were one of them. They were pretty goofy, yet somehow charming, and I remembered them playing “Roadrunner”.
Like an idiot I got rid of almost all my records in 1990, including a half dozen Jonathan Richman albums.
I bought a Rhino “Best Of” cd as a replacement, but of course it was missing a lot of the best songs. Not included was the Beserkely Chartbuster’s version of “Roadrunner”, which is vastly superior to that on the debut, or “Rockin Shoppin Center”.
I had a really hard time tracking them down. Jonathan’s music goes in and out of print, and gets repackaged in different configurations. The version I was looking for is sometimes called “Roadrunner (once)”, and other times, “Roadrunner (twice)”.
I went so far as to order something on Amazon, but it never arrived.
I spent more time than I like to admit tracking these tunes down.
As great as the debut is, the “uncool” tracks found here are little closer to my heart.
Still, if you’ve never heard it, “Pablo Picasso” is a classic.
My favorite line:
“Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole, not like you”
Interesting that the original band included Jerry Harrison and David Robinson, who went on to play in The Talking Heads, and the Cars, respectively.

I didn’t “get” Frank Zappa for a long time. My friend Slow Uncle, did, and tried to interest me. I eventually bought We’re Only In It For The Money, largely for the hilarious send up of Sgt Pepper’s album cover, but I didn’t think the songs were very good. I mentioned a couple posts back being exposed to “The Mudshark” from Live at Fillmore East, June 1971, and my parents disapproval, but I wasn’t really ready for it. I liked the toilet humor and everything, but I hated jazz and the music was over my head.

Still cracks me up

When I moved into my dorm room at San Diego State in the fall of 1976, we were encouraged to paint our rooms or if we felt like it, murals outside our rooms. Sounds crazy, but this was the ’70’s. Even though I wasn’t a fan of his music I always admired his irreverence, that’s why I painted his likeness from We’re Only In It For The Money next to the door outside my room. I don’t have a picture of it, but to the right is what I copied, including Frank’s wondering, “Is This Phase One Of Lumpy Gravy?”

I was no longer living in the dorm in the Spring of 1978 when he played the amphitheatre on campus where I witnessed a phenomenal performance. After the last song the audience stood and began clapping and yelling for what seemed to be 30 minutes or more.
Eventually Frank came onstage and said, “You people are crazy. We can hear you all the way in the dressing room”, at which the band came back out and proceeded to play another hour and a half. Interesting detail: There was a guy in Frank’s band I never heard of that played guitar and did a dead-on Dylan impersonation. His name was Adrian Belew. A month or three later I went to see David Bowie at the San Diego Sports Arena and there he was again! I thought he was great until he started singing on King Crimson records.

A couple months ago, Q, drummer in Foglizard, where I am a member of the rhythm section, said he planned to spend the summer listening to Frank, and did I own anything he could borrow? I had Fillmore East June 1971, and Ahead Of Their Time. I did some research and managed to acquire 17 FZ releases for personal review.
I tend to prefer the work of the original Mothers of Invention. Maybe because they were a band he joined and took over. After he fired them in 1969, he hired ever more amazing musicians, but with a diminishing amount of soul.

In around 1991, I bought a cd copy of Cruisin With Ruben And The Jets, an album I remembered as being a fun parody/tribute to old R&B and Doo Wop. There was something terribly wrong with it, which turned out to be that Frank had rerecorded the original drum and bass parts for reasons only understood by him. I got rid of it right away. Turns out He also ruined We’re Only In It For The Money in a similar fashion. Fan’s outcry against this was so strong he eventually restored We’re Only In It For The Money, but not before referring to them as “fetishists”. He never got around to Ruben before his death, so I found an original vinyl rip of the lp. It’s a mystery why he thought those bass and drum tracks needed replacement. It’s kind of like Paul McCartney replacing John Lennon with Mark Knopfler.
If you buy the Zappa Family Trust’s Lumpy Money, you’ll be treated to the horrible remix of WOIIFTM as a “Bone us” disc.

"A last ditch effort by the Mothers to get their crummy music on the radio"

If you don’t have the time or inclination here is an interesting tidbit:

During his childhood Zappa was often sick, suffering from asthma, earaches and sinus problems. A doctor treated the latter by inserting a pellet of radium into each of Zappa’s nostrils; little was known at the time about the potential dangers of being subjected to even small amounts of therapeutic radiation. Nasal imagery and references appear both in his music and lyrics, as well as in the collage album covers created by his long-time visual collaborator, Cal Schenkel.

Long Out Of Print

Anyway I’ve compiled a fun disc worth of music by the original Mothers. There are some songs from Mothermania, a long out of print “best of” compiled by Frank in 1968, containing substantially different mixes from the original albums. Also are some cuts from Cruisin With Ruben And The Jets, which is kind of the spiritual center of my comp which I call Motherama. All these tracks come from rips of the original vinyl releases. The rest are from Freak Out, Absolutely Free, Uncle Meat, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

I also included a passage from Playground Psychotics (1992) which has Jeff Simmons quitting the group a few days before shooting 200 Motels. He was replaced by Ringo Starr’s chauffer at the last minute. This is followed by two tunes from Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up, an out of print 1970 album by Jeff Simmons produced by Frank under the pseudonym of Lamar Bruister. “Lucille” and “Wonderful Wino” are about the only songs in Frank’s catalog that credit a co-writer. Frank plays guitar and Ian Underwood is featured. Both tunes turn up later in Frank’s discography in less interesting versions.

For your immediate listening pleasure I’ve included a rare “live” version of “Plastic People”. I read that before real music was written for it they played it over “Louie, Louie”. This must be that.

I think this stuff has aged really well. Frank’s social commentary was/is right on the money.

A friend sent me a link to someone’s idea of the greatest rock guitar solos on record because “Baby’s On Fire”, one of my first posts, and a guitar solo I’d nominate for some kind of “best” list, was on it. I can’t remember what the other eleven tracks were, except I wasn’t familiar with most of them, or my response was, “What?!”. A brief email correspondence took place where I nominated a handful of solos that would be on my list, and got as far as promising it would be the theme for the next “Bullshit”. I started to jot down some ideas, a little disappointed that “Baby’s On Fire was already on Number Fifty when I realized I had no interest in compiling or listening to all that fretful wankery.
Also I’d collected the solo-less “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” from Lux N Ivy’s Favorites and already earmarked it for Now That’s What I Call Bullshit 52.
All the Bullshits tend to follow the same pattern of eclecticism, so I lost the guitar solo theme. That said, a few of them made it onto the playlist. They are grouped together in a mini set consisting of “Old Pervert”, possibly my favorite Kimberly Rew solo from The Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight. Interesting because this version is not on the cd reissue, where it has been replaced by a vastly inferior rendition. This version is dubbed from a cassette copy I made in 1986 of the original vinyl release. Next up is “Lounge Lizard” from Ian Hunter’s first solo album featuring Mick Ronson on guitar. It’s really hard to narrow Mick down to a single solo, but I think this one stands out for all the right reasons. After that comes “Tit-Nan-Darag”, from Live, Love, Larf by French, Frith, Kaiser, and Thompson. Three out of four of those guys are well known for their guitar prowess. The other guy for the incredible drumming in Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. I hear the album isn’t great, but this track smokes, and when Richard Thompson plays, I listen. It wasn’t destined for my list, but his solo on Fairport’s “Tale In Hard Time” is no laughing matter, either. It’s not a solo, but Blixa Bargeld’s guitar on “The Moon Is In The Gutter” is some of my favorite atmospheric noodling. Davy O’List plays some crazy shit on “The ‘In’ Crowd”, Mick Ronson shimmers tastefully on “Up To Me”, and the guitars on Acetone’s “No Need Swim” are as gorgeous as you-fill-in-the-blank.
Keef’s playing on “Honky Tonk Women” and Ron’s solo on “Twisting the Night Away” would have both made the cut, but I’ve heard them too many times, so here they are together on “Not Fade Away” from The Stones Stripped Deluxe, where no one in the band sounds like they plan on fading away any time soon. And then there’s Lou Reed on “You’re Driving Me Insane”, a song recorded by The Roughnecks shortly before forming The Velvet Underground, where he plays the practically same solo (if you can call it that) as “Run, Run, Run” from the “banana” album.The Mekons always have good guitars, and are here because this song narrowly missed the cut on my post a few months back. One of the Mekons, Lu Edmonds, is currently playing guitar on tour with Public Image Ltd.
The Liquor Giants “I Don’t Mind” is a dead ringer for Big Star. Too bad it wasn’t covered by them on In Space.
Something by Chris Spedding would have found it’s way onto the guitar list, check out Roy Harper’s “The Game” on an earlier post, so I end the set with the Sharks hysterical “Kung Fu”, from Jab It In Yore Eye(1977). One of those albums that wouldn’t make it onto anyone’s all-time list, but for some reason I played to death way back when, largely due to Spedding’s incredible tone and economy coupled with Snip’s charismatic vocals.
There isn’t any guitar at all on Gene Krupa’s “Scandanavian Baby”, but it rocks nicely and comes from a history of Jazz record my parents bought at a supermarket when I was a toddler.
It’s really about the songs anyway.
Link in Comments.
Enjoy!

As usual it’s been too long since I posted anything of substance. I look at some of my favorite sites, and there’s something new posted every day and I have to think that they must not do anything else except blog. Either that or I’m very slow. Probably a bit of both. Even this began as a zip file I just wanted to throw up, and now I’m into more than an hour spent writing practically nothing.
As stated previously the blog began as a series of mix cd’s made in response to the demise of my evil i-Pod. I called them now that’s what I call bullshit as a comment on the popular series of Top 40 compilations called Now That’s What I Call Music. It was a way of processing the ton of music coming my way through friends, downloads, and occasional purchases while I was driving two hours down to South Jersey on surfari.
Many songs posted were originally featured on the cd’s.

I made the first one for Memorial Day weekend in 2006. Here is number 50.

A swell compilation of highlights from the blog so far. It will fill a blank cd nicely, or remain files you can do with what you please.

I’ve always loved this song. My parents played a lot of records. My Dad used to buy weird cut-outs, mostly by names he knew already, such as Chet Atkins, Doc Severinson, people of the previous era trying to make records in the swingin sixties. A lot of potential for uncool there. One record they played a lot was a Capitol Records something or other anniversary compilation of big hits. Cow Cow Boogie was the opener, being the fledgling label’s first gold record. When I was in High School I snickered every time Ella sang the lyric with “loco weed” in it (Still do, actually). Check out the ultra cool jive rap with Don Raye on The House Of Blue Lights. She actually calls him “Homey”.

Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999), was an American popular singer. One of the most talented and overlooked vocalists of the 1940s, Morse blended jazz, country, pop, and R&B; at times she came remarkably close to what would be known as rock and roll.

She was all that

Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when she was 14 years old. Dorsey believed she was 19, and when he was informed by the school board that he was now responsible for her care, he fired her. In 1942, at the age of 17, she joined Freddie Slack’s band, with whom in the same year she recorded Cow Cow Boogie, Capitol Records’ first gold single. “Mr. Five by Five” was also recorded by Morse with Slack and they had a hit recording with the song in 1942 (Capitol 115). She also originated the wartime hit “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet,” which was later popularized by Nancy Walker in the film, Broadway Rhythm.

I grew up in the suburbs behind So-Cal’s Orange Curtain, in the most whitebread place, outside of the midwest, to be found just about anywhere. As a result, big cities fascinated me, and anything remotely urban. In the very late ’70’s Rap mutated out of funkin’ disco, along with it’s lesser known cousin, “Mutant Disco”. Was (Not Was), Material, Defunkt, James White, Kid Creole and The Coconuts, were just some of the artists in my urban fantasy sountrack. Throw in Kraftwerk, Africa Bambaata, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sandanista!, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and you get an idea what kind of mix tapes I was making my friends.
On my first adult visit to New York City, in August 1981, WAS (NOT WAS) was on my Walkman knock-off the first time I came over on the Staten Island ferry, having just bought a joint from a black kid as I was getting on the boat, and openly smoked down with the cars on the lower deck.
I got off the ferry and walked into Manhattan. I knew right then I had to live on this part of the planet.

“Out Comes The Freaks” and “Tell Me That I’m Dreaming” are from WAS (NOT WAS) (1981).
They were sued by Eddie Harald, former high school acquaintance, who they name check in the first verse, when they released “(Return To The Valley Of)Out Come the Freaks” on Born To Laugh At Tornadoes (1983).
“Dad I’m In Jail” is from What Up, Dog? (1988), the phone call who hasn’t fantasized making?

wiki
Was (Not Was) is an American eclectic pop group founded by David Weiss (a.k.a. David Was) and Don Fagenson (a.k.a. Don Was). They gained popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Weiss and Fagenson were childhood friends who grew up together in suburban Detroit. Partly due to Fagenson’s poverty they decided to form Was (Not Was) in 1979. The name of the band was derived from Fagenson’s son Zane, who enjoyed contradicting words such as “Blue” with “Not Blue”. Their first recording was “Wheel Me Out”, a 12-inch dance record for the avant-garde ZE Records.

Their first album Was (Not Was) (1981) was an amalgam of rock, disco, Weiss’s beat poetry, Reagan-era political-social commentary, and jazz. On vocals they recruited Harry Bowens and “Sweet Pea” Atkinson, who proved to be distinctive, soulful front men, who frequently found themselves singing absurdist and satirical songs, alongside tender ballads. The MC5’s Wayne Kramer, The Knack’s Doug Fieger and Mingus trumpeter Marcus Belgrave were among the guest players.

In 1982 the group played on a rare solo album for lead singer “Sweet Pea” Atkinson called Don’t Walk Away.

The eclectic Born to Laugh at Tornadoes (1983) had even more guest musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne rapping over electro, Mitch Ryder belting out a techno-rockabilly number, Mel Tormé crooning an odd ballad about asphyxiation, and an abstract funk piece called “Man vs. the Empire Brain Building”. Singer Donald Ray Mitchell joined the group as third lead vocalist.

In 1988 they found their biggest hit with the album What Up, Dog?, which featured the singles “Walk the Dinosaur” and “Spy in the House of Love”. Special guests included Stevie Salas, John Patitucci, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and a writing credit for Elvis Costello. Artist/animator Christoph Simon created videos to accompany some of their songs, such as “What Up Dog?”, “Dad I’m in Jail”, and the Tom Waits-style “Earth to Doris”. These appeared on MTV’s Liquid Television and in various film festivals, including the Spike & Mike festival. About this time, the Was Brothers developed separate careers as producers, film scorers, and music supervisors.

The group followed up with Are You Okay? in 1990, spearheaded by a cover of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”. Guest musicians included Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, The Roches, and Syd Straw. After a tour with Dire Straits in 1992 and a UK Top 5 single with “Shake Your Head” (vocals from Ozzy Osbourne and Kim Basinger), Weiss and Fagenson drifted apart and nothing was heard from the band but a compilation album Hello Dad… I’m in Jail. Some members, however, did appear on Don’s Orquestra Was project Forever Is a Long Long Time (1997), which re-interpreted Hank Williams in a jazz/R&B vein.

In 1997, Steve Winwood released a tune which borrowed not just the title of Was (Not Was)’s single “Spy in the House of Love” but also the bass line and other elements. However, no lawsuits ensued (or were settled out of court).

In late 2004, Was (Not Was) reformed and were back on stage for a two-month club tour through the Northeast and East Coast of the US, as well as California, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois (including stops at the House of Blues in Cleveland and Chicago), Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania (in the Trocadero in Philadelphia). In October 2005, they played four gigs at the Jazz Café in London.

In 2008, they released their fifth studio album Boo!, featuring guest appearances from Kris Kristofferson, Wayne Kramer, Marcus Miller and Booker T. Jones, plus a song originally co-written with Bob Dylan nearly 20 years earlier.

Detroit’s Metro Times described the band as “an endearing mess… …a sausage factory of funk, rock, jazz and electronic dance music, all providing a boogie-down backdrop for a radical (and witty) political message of unbridled personal freedom and skepticism of authority.”[1] On April 22, 2008, they performed on the British show Later… with Jools Holland, and on May 2, they were the musical guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

The band kicked off its American tour on April 30, 2008, performing a well-received 2-hour set at Johnny D’s in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The Yin to Shiina Ringo’s(Yer Blues) Yang would be this version of “Lucy In Sky (With Diamonds) a rendering so clueless and square as to be a true example of “it’s so bad it’s good”. Apparently this entire album is “classic”.

“Some velvet morning, when I’m straight……” Back in ’68.
This song is like a really expensive cheese ball. Covered with hazlenuts. Spread some on the cracker of your choice and enjoy! This song is a classic. No need to listen the rest of the album. Well, “Jackson”, maybe, just don’t compare it with Johnny and June.